In the 8th grade, my science teacher taught me an invaluable skill: how to write an email. He walked us through the subject line, how to write the body paragraphs, the way to use pleasantries (how are you? I hope your summer is going well!), how to ask our questions (would you be willing to give me full points on this email writing assignment?), and how to sign off (Sincerely, First Name, Last Name).
In the intervening years, I have turned this skill into a bit of an art form, as many skills become with much practice. An introduction can pack so much, the difference between a hey, a hello, a dear, a hi, or simply a name and title convey emotion and meaning more than the body of the text. The small note in the beginning of an email, asking how their day has been, if they enjoyed that tea they were going to try, if they were feeling better (as last time I asked they said that the weather had them down) shows that I care, even if this email is being sent because I may or may not have missed a deadline that I now must desperately ask for an extension on and forgiveness for missing it. Concluding with a Thank You, an I Hope you have an amazing evening, night, day, morning, week (if I particularly like them), an I'm sorry, a 'I hope your day is better than the last one', a 'I hope your vacation goes well!' with an improper exclamation point before my name because I want them to know that I am excited for them.
In some of my worst moments a kindly written email is what kept me from spiraling to places I don't know if I could recover from.
If you couldn't tell, this has been a post about AI. Even an Email has the fingerprints of humanity and love and care and artistry that a collection of words stolen from my mouth and my work and my life could never reproduce. I think that in a world where use of this useless tool is excused with 'but it writes my emails for me' , its important to remember that even that excuse is bullshit.
